The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

saath Exploring, the, Rainforest. of Costa, Rica, Costa Rica is a small landmass located in Central America between Panama and Nicaragua. It borders on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the east by the Caribbean Sea. It is on the Caribbean side that one of earth's most magnificent rainforests lies. There are two ways to get from the capital, San Jose, to the rainfor- est: a five hour bus journey or a thirty minute plane ride. Well I'm not one for siting on buses so off to the airport | wel my was surprised when we by- passed the main terminal and headed for a field where a Twin Otter, built in 1964, had propellers slowly turning and seemed ready to go. | ventured forth and climbed into the tiny cabin. There was room for about nineteen people and no door between the pilot and the passengers. | sat up front and had a clear view of the instruments — not necessarily a good thing. Questions like “Why is he [the pilot] touching those knobs?’, “ ks So nervous?” raced through my mind. We flew at 7,500 feet (I constantly watched the altimeter) and had spec- tacular views of Arenal Volcano, 1,000 feet higher. Below us were coffee plantations, pineapple fields and of course, the rainforest. We landed along side the Ca- ribbean and were greeted by 40+ temperatures and a humidity that was stifling. The rainforest is made up of dozens of narrow waterways, many of which were carved over a hundred years ago by loggers to ship felled trees out to the sea. A long canal runs parallel to the Caribbean and is the main highway through the forest. | did not waste any time and began exploring the region as soon as 88 FOCUS - AUGUST 2011 Poison arrow frogs are very difficult to notice. They are known for their beautiful colours which are believed to be used as warnings to predators that they are poisonous.